Flagstaff, Ariz. – Behind 20-point games from senior Hayley Hogdins and junior Tisha Phillips, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team won its fifth straight game Saturday night, Jan. 16, topping host Northern Arizona, 81-71, in a Big Sky Conference contest at the Walkup Skydome
 
Win-Loss Records
 
EWU improves to 11-6 overall and 5-0 in conference play with the win while Northern Arizona drops to 5-10 overall and 1-3 in league counters.
 
Turning Point
 
The Eagles exploded for 25 first-quarter points en route to a comfortable 43-29 edge at intermission. Eastern shot 48.5 percent from the field over the opening 20 minutes while forcing seven NAU turnovers and holding the hosts to a 34.4-percent clip from the field.
 
The two squads played even in the third quarter before the Lumberjacks made a comeback charge in the fourth and final frame, pulling to within seven points, 67-60, with 4:43 remaining. EWU answered with a jumper from sophomore Mariah Cunningham, and NAU would get no closer than that the rest of the way as the Eagles drained all 12 of their free throw attempts down the stretch, including a perfect 8-of-8 performance from Phillips.
 
Top Performers
 
Hayley Hodgins led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-21 shooting, including four three-pointers. She tied her career high with 10 rebounds for her second career double-double and added three assists and one steal.
 
Phillips tallied a career-best 20 points on just six shot attempts. She did a majority of her damage at the free throw line, finishing 15-of-16 from the charity stripe. She added five assists and four rebounds to her stat line.
 
Sophomore Delaney Hodgins chipped in with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and four steals.
 
Junior Ashli Payne added 10 points and eight rebounds while Cunningham tallied eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
 
Key Statistics

EWU shot 41.0 percent from the field on the night while holding the hosts to 34.8 percent shooting.
 
Eastern forced Northern Arizona into 15 turnovers that it turned into 17 points. The Eagles turned the ball over 13 times but saw the Lumberjacks score just nine points off turnovers.
 
Quoting Coach Schuller

"Our team is just full of players who are gritty and gutsy. It's a group that plays hard all of the time, and that was evident in us getting two road wins this week. We have a lot of weapons, and players are stepping up as they get more comfortable with our system."
 
Game Notes
 
The Eagles are off to a 5-0 start to Big Sky play for the first time in six seasons. EWU started its conference slate with seven straight wins back in the 2009-10 season. Coincidentally, that was the last time Eastern won a Big Sky regular season title.
 
Hayley Hodgins is getting ever closer to becoming Eastern's all-time NCAA Division I leading scorer. Her 24-point effort tonight brings her to within 210 points of current leader Brenda Souther (1983-87). With 13 regular season games and at least one Big Sky Tournament game remaining, Hodgins needs to average 15.0 points per game to break the record. She was averaging 19.3 points per game entering tonight's contest.
 
Up Next
 
EWU welcomes Montana State to Reese Court for a Big Sky counter this Thursday, Jan. 21. It will be a battle for first place in the league standings as MSU owns a 6-0 league mark through three weeks of conference play.